Four years into the global credit crunch, many small savers remain convinced that shares are too risky - so they have no alternative to leaving their savings in bank and building society accounts paying wretched rates of return.

The limitations of this approach are highlighted by figures from analysts Capita Registrars showing British companies paid out a record £67.8 billion in dividends in 2011, the first rise since 2008.

Whenever I hear Energy Secretary Chris Huhne cheerfully urging consumers to shop around to beat surging energy prices which the Government's green policies help to promote, I huff and puff in silent fury - along, no doubt, with millions of others.

Until this week, when I asked the price comparison website energyhelpline.com to check my annual consumption figures for gas and electricity as a dual fuel customer with British Gas.

When little-known Norwich & Peterborough Building Society (N&P) tweaked the terms of its Gold Classic account this week, it unwittingly jumped to the top of the best-buy charts for travellers who regularly leave Britain's shores.

Because this account, with a minimum funding requirement of £500 per month, offers free overseas debit card transactions, says Andrew Hagger, spokesman at Moneynet.co.uk.

If you're planning a holiday in Europe this year, or could soon be involved in moving funds to buy or sell a holiday home, is this the moment to build a stash of euros?

An unlikely consequence of the eurozone crisis currently rocking global financial stability is the strong rise of the pound against the euro since last summer - possibly buttressed by David Cameron's decision to veto an EU-wide treaty at the Brussels summit.

Do you really need that gym membership which lifts a lump sum out of your bank account each month? And why struggle with private healthcare premiums when they soar on the wrong side of 50?

Many of us will need to look closely at where our money goes in 2012.

Despite the death of founder Steve Jobs, Fortune magazine has no doubts: Apple is the share to buy for 2012, it says, with earnings set to soar by 30%.

Great news, I thought, as the fund where I save £100 a month - GLG Technology Equity - has nearly £10 million invested in Apple.

Grim warnings from lenders of a sharp jump in repossessions in 2012 is a timely reminder to millions of homeowners to put secure mortgage arrangements in place ahead of a bumpy year on financial markets.

With an estimated 166,000 mortgages in arrears by 2.5% or more, The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) fears rising unemployment could cancel out the benefits of low rates and send repossessions soaring to 45,000 - against 37,000 this year and 36,000 in 2010.

As savings rates collapse and share prices go sideways, even the wealthy are feeling the squeeze and cutting back on donations to charities and good causes.

According to the Coutts Million Pound Donors Report published this week, compiled by private bankers Coutts & Co (its branches stretch from Sheffield to Exeter) and the University of Kent, the number of big donations in Britain hit a low in 2010, with only 174 handouts of £1 million or more.

While public sector unions took to streets across Britain to protest about changes to their pensions, it was easy to overlook a deal struck by one of Britain's best firms.

Global engineering giant Rolls-Royce announced that the trustees of its final salary pension scheme had agreed a deal with Deutsche Bank to cover potential liabilities worth about £3 billion, which might arise if many of the 37,000 employees in its final salary pension scheme live longer than expected.

If it's any consolation to Chancellor George Osborne, who presented his Autumn Statement with a grim face in the Commons this week, the 'debt bomb' hanging over Britain's households is probably even more dangerous than the one facing the Government.

The latest borrowing figures from the Bank of England show that total individual debt across the country climbed to nearly £1.5 trillion in September: credit card debts zoomed by £200 million in September alone to £56.9 billion, while the amount of cash borrowed through cards and loans soared to £629 million.